Rockslide Injures 20 At Oregon Falls

MULTNOMAH FALLS, Ore. - A rockslide at Multnomah Falls injured 20 people visiting the popular tourist attraction yesterday, but there were no reports of life-threatening injuries or missing people.

The injuries included people with broken legs and arms, said Rob Ware, Portland Fire Bureau spokesman. Thirteen people were taken to area hospitals.

Those taken to the hospitals were treated and released, except for one person who was admitted with a knee injury.

There were about 60 people in the area at the time of the slide, including 30 people in a wedding party.

A slab of rock 25 feet wide and about 8 feet high dislodged from the rock face behind 542-foot upper Multnomah Falls about 5:30 p.m., witnesses said.

The bus-size rock fell about 150 feet and crashed in a pool of water, sending water and rock debris hundreds of feet in the air, said U.S. Forest Service spokesman Michael Ferris.

Tony and Cami Silveira had completed their wedding ceremony and were taking pictures on the bridge when the rock fell.

The bride said the slide bodes well for their marriage.

"We got the tragedy out of the way and now we're home free," she said.

Multnomah Falls, located at the west end of the Columbia Gorge, about 25 miles east of Portland, is Oregon's most popular tourist attraction, drawing more than 2 million visitors a year to view two towering waterfalls.

It consists of an upper waterfall that drops 542 feet into a pool, which then drops into a second, 63-foot waterfall.

Ferris said that Labor Day is one of the busiest days of the year at the falls. He said that, fortunately, cool weather yesterday discouraged people from entering the pool into which the rock fell.